eurovisionsongcontest calendar l O G A Ee s c n e w s
Eurovision 2005: Journalists only with tickets
During his visit to Kiev, Eurovision Song Contest supervisor Svante Stockselius gave more information about the ticket sale. Aleksandr Savenko, president of the Ukrainian national broadcaster NTCU, mentioned new changes concerning journalists and accreditation's. The rules of EBU say that all tickets will have to be sold by reachable and reasonable prices.
President of NTCU, Aleksandr Savenko, has already announced that the journalists will have to buy a ticket to see the Eurovision Song Contest or the dress rehearsals. However, special discounts and invitations for journalists are envisaged. In no case will an accreditation be enough to get entrance to the concert hall.Platin started their Austrian tour - July 1 2004
Diana and Simon Gomilšek, better known as this years slovene ESC participants, duo Platin still perform from five to twelve times in a week. So obviously no summer rest has been set in their schedules.
Right now they have started their tour across Austria, which starts in Wienna and ends in Wolfs berg on Sunday. They will prepare nine concerts. According to ORF, the Austrian national broadcaster, the interest for their performance is big. After the tour, they will perform as a guest on the annual MMS festival in Slovenia. But of course, more unexpected performances are coming too. In these days you can catch their new single "Tvoj dotik" (Your touch) on most of the slovene radio stations.ESC Junior ... FYROM has chosen - June 28 2004
Martina Siljanovska has won Evrosong 2004 Za Deca, the Macedonian selection for the second Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Unexpected for the European audience, the show took place last night in Studio 3 of the Macedonian broadcaster MKRTV in Skopje Martina will perform "Zabava" (Party) in the norvegian Lillehamer. Last year in Copenhagen, Marija and Viktorija reached the 12.th place with their song "Ti me ne poznavaš".Finland ... A finnish version of Melodifestivalen - June 24 2004
Finnish broadcaster YLE has started the search for the Finnish entry for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. Following the Swedish example of Melodifestivalen, 4 semi finals organised in different Finnish towns and 1 grand final at the Tampere Hall will take place. Four semi finals will take place on Fridays in different Finnish towns: on 14th and 21st January and on 4th and 11th February. In each semi final, 3 songs will proceed to the grand final taking place at Tampere Hall on Saturday 19th February.
During the final, the Finnish song for the Eurovision Song Contest will be selected in two stages: half of the songs will first be eliminated by regional juries, the remaining 6 songs will then be judged by the Finnish audience through SMS and televoting. The new name for the finnish preselection is: Eurovision laulukipailu, Suomen karsinta 2005.Ruslana is moving to Kiev - June 22 2004
Ruslana Lyzhicko is moving to live in Kiev's Podil region to a two bedroom apartment. Along with the keys to her new apartment Kiev Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko presented Ruslana the Kiev Mayor's Symbol. After the ceremony of rewarding Ruslana asserted that Kiev is able to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. “Kiev is the city that will make the whole world fall in love with it.” And awaiting this to happen Ruslana can now enjoy the splendid view of the Dnieper river through the window of her new apartment.50th anniversary show in London - June 20 2004
On October 16th, 2005, there will be a tribute to 50 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, staged in the UK and produced by the BBC. Svante Stockselius of the EBU confirmed the news: "It is now decided that a special show will be hosted by BBC in the Royal Albert Hall in London". The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was the 13th edition and was held on April 6th, 1968 at the Royal Albert Hall. It was the first edition broadcasted in color. The countries that broadcasted it in color were France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom itself. The EBU and its members are still discussing proposals for the live birthday show. Various ideas have been put forward, ranging from an all celebrity performance, featuring the former stars of Eurovision, to a world song contest. The exact format has yet to be decided, probably by the Reference Group.
Royal Albert Hall - picture from BBC
EBU about the plans for the ESC 2005 - June 17 2004
Svante Stockselius, the coordinator of the Eurovision Song Contest at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) together with seven representatives (Reference Group) of EBU Administrative Council are planning to visit Kiev from July 6th through July 11th to decide the fate of the 50th anniversary of the contest.
Addressing the regular meeting of the Kiev City Administration attended by the Kiev Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, who is the Vice-President of the Eurovision-2005 Organization Committee, the Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Yaloviy and the Director of the International Exhibition Centre Anatoly Tkachenko, Oleksandr Savenko summed up the results of his meeting with the EBU management, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland last week. During its visit, the European delegation will examine the venues suggested by the Committee.
Ukraine is ready to spend at minimum 5 million Swiss francs to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year.” The minimal budget, according to the President of the NTU, will amount to 9,5 million Swiss francs, 4,5 million provided by the EBU and 5 million guaranteed by the host state. This sum concerns the organization and the broadcasting only. As regards the construction of the hall, hotels, infrastructure – these expenditures will be incurred by the host state and are not covered by the budget of the contest.The Reference group makes plans for the future - June 16 2004
A long discussion about the new ESC format has been made in the Reference group. Some countries are very disappointed because of the way other countries voted. Especially Austria, Switzerland and Estonia are very sensible when it comes to the "voting" topic. But, like in the yeas before, there is no clear answer to the question of "objective voting", because the musical taste varies from country to country.The Reference group also discussed the possibility to make a more interesting mixture of nationalities, because it is true, that this yeas contest was very "balcanic". Till the next meeting in Kiev they will prepare new plans and ideas, pro´s and contra's (1 possible way is 2 semi finals and 1 big final).
What is also interesting is the information how many people have voted in several countries. In the semi final there were only 259 calls from Albania, 5524 from Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine only 3815 votes, but 92.305 from Switzerland! 26.789 calls in the semi final and 61.844 calls have been made from Slovenia. A high number, that places Slovenia on the 11th place on the chart of the countries who voted the most. The Reference group is also concerned that the interest in the BIG4 countries was very low in the semi final, due to the fact they don't participate in the first eurovision evening. Which is a problem, because the whole contest depends from their financial support. Only 39.005 people voted in Spain, but more than a million in Germany, which is probably the reason why Germany is one of the biggest supporter of televoting.
Ukraine said the final "yes" that they will host the 50th contest. They also named 5 venues that are suitable for hosting the contest. Somewhere in the beginning of july the ukrainian producer will have a meeting with the reference group.
What is also not to ignore, is the fact that this year the public elections in Ukraine will take place. A new government could be a risk for the organization of ESC, that's why the Reference group will sign a contract, that nomather of the political situation, the ESC will take place.
An interesting information is also that, if this year only the juries would have the right to vote, Cyprus would be the winner. If they would use the "50 % jury - 50% televoting" system, the victory would go to Ukraine.
A tribute to the 50th anniversary of the ESC will take place on October 16 2005 in the production of BBC.
Source: Miša Molk (Reference Group) - Written by: Denis Živcec
Junior ESC ... @lek for Norway - June 13 2004
This year it was Norway who was the first to choose their representative for the Junior ESC in Zagreb. The viewers decided, that Aleksander Moberg, also known as @lek was the best one. Obviously is expectances are big. His song has the title " En stjerne skal jeg bli" (Im going to be a star). Summerboys and Det var Sommer (It was summer), came second, Cee Jays with Hor pa oss (Listen to us) third.Germany won´t participate in ESC Junior - June 8 2004
German broadcaster NDR announced that they will not send a German representative to this year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest. 19 instead of 20 countries will thus be present at the event's second edition in Zagreb, Croatia, unless the Eurovision Broadcasting Union invites another country to replace Germany. After last year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, it was announced that 20 countries would participate in 2004. Germany was said to be one of the newcomers, but German broadcaster NDR reported that there is no way that Germany will participate. A reason for the withdrawal has not been given. The countries which will participate are: Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malta, FYR Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden.Eurovision network celebrates 50th anniversary - June 8 2004
The Narcissus Festival in Montreux which was held exactly 50 years ago, on June 6th 1954, was the first transmission over the Eurovision network and this is of course a cause for celebration today in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU marked on June 6th the foundation of the Eurovision network with a special tribute: they renamed the Montreux squere into "Place de l'Eurovision", which means "The Eurovision squere." The first Eurovision viewers eagerly watched on 4 million television sets in homes, bars, and shop windows in Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. This first technical exploit opened the way for many other shared pictures, among them is one of the EBU's most recognized and enduring project The Eurovision Song Contest, which will also celebrate its 50th birthday next year.Ruslana invited competitors to her concert - June 4 2004
Ruslana plans to give a concert in Kiev on July 31st 2004 for which she invited several of her competitors from Istanbul. Željko Joksimovic, Sakis Rouvas, Athena and Xandee were invited by the Eurovision Song Contest winner, to join her on stage during that concert. She also told the Belgium press that the construction of a new venue in Kiev, at which the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 can be held, already started.Junior ESC in Croatia - June 4 2004
The Croatian broadcaster HRT and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 will take place in Croatia! Before that the second edition of the junior contest was planned to take place in Manchester.
Svante Stockselius from the EBU said that there were many reasons to change the location from Manchester to Croatia: "First of all, there was a schedule problem at ITV, secondly they wanted to have more budget. As this would mean that the participating countries had to pay more, the EBU and ITV decided together that this was not an option. After consulting other member broadcasters, we were very happy to see the Croatian broadcaster HRT doing an offer", Stockselius said.
Croatia won the first edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, last year in Copenhagen, thanks to Dino and his song Ti si moja prva ljubav (You are my first love). The reason to decide about the host country on forehand was to avoid the pressure on the participating kids.EBU and NTU to meet soon - May 31 2004
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Ukraine broadcaster NTU will meet within a few weeks to discuss "every detail to know about how to host the Eurovision Song Contest". Traditionally, the EBU invited the public broadcaster of the winning country to Geneva, where they will discuss everything that is important to know to host next year's Eurovision Song Contest. It seems that the EBU, NTU and the Ukraine government are confident about the possibilities for the 50th edition of the contest. Even though they haven't met, they already immediately denied all rumors about Greece hosting next year's contest. Press agency Anatolya wrote that Ukraine refused the offer to host next year's show, just as Serbia & Montenegro. Obviously a false information. NTU has to come up with a proper plan for next year's contest before 1st of August. As soon as the EBU approved the plan, NTU's host broadcaster status for 2005 is official.Scotland on ESC? - May 31 2004
Scottish Parliament member Carolyn Leckie is a bit angry about the bad results of the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in the last few years. Leckie blames the current British foreign policy for it and wants Scotland to be represented under the Sccotish flag at the ESC. Carolyn Leckie, the socialist member of the scottish parliament believes that voting across Europe is strongly influenced to the views of European people on the British role in the war on Iraq: "A British entry is unlikely to succeed as long as Her Majesty's Government continues with the current foreign policy." says Leckie. "A Scottish entry is less likely to be tainted."Bulgaria wants to participate in 2005 - May 24 2004
Bulgarian National Television (BNT), informed the European Broadcasting Union that they are showing some serious interested in participating at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. BNT made the decision at the suggestion of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha of Bulgaria. He invited the national broadcaster BNT to join next year's Eurovision Song Contest. Soon the Bulgarian National Television informed the European Broadcasting Union that they are interested in participating. Even though their interest is very serious, there are still some big financial problems that have to be solved before we will hear the Bulgarian song for the first time on the eurovision stage.Ruslana - Prime Ministers advisor - May 20 2004
The Prime Minister Viktor Janukovich met Ruslana today and discussed the matters of organizing the contest in the Ukraine and named her to become his new counselor on social matters. Janukovich also gave her a small statue featuring a Cossack representing 'the dignity of the Ukraine' and a tagged watch to 'tick great times' in Ruslana's life. She assured the journalists that she will not go into politics any further because she sees her future only in the world of music.No suitable venue in Ukraine for ESC 2005 - May 19 2004
Ukrainian state owned broadcaster UT1 has already declared that currently there is no proper venue to host next year's Eurovision Song Contest. The only two possibilities are reconstructing the Sports Palace in Kiev or building an entirely new object that would be appropriate for the eurovision needs. The media and ukrainian people see in Ruslanas victory a big step towards the European Union. Even the president, Leonid Kuchma congratulated her in a letter and said thank you for preparing a really unforgettable evening for thousands of ukrainian families.Together we have chosen the winner - May 19 2004
This year, almost all three top finishers won points from every voting country. Ukraine got zero points from Switzerland. Both Greece and Serbia & Montenegro received points from every country. A scenario that probably won't be repeated many times in the future. Speculations that France, Poland and Russia's skipping the semi-final might have made the standings different were obviously wrong, because their votes would not change the top3 and also the same countries would qualify for the final.Cetin Alp died - May 19 2004
The representative of Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, Çetin Alp, was found dead last night by his daughter. The cause should be a heart attack. Çetin Alp participated in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1983 in Munich with the song Opera. He was accompanied by a backing group called the Short Wave. The song finished last with 0 points. After the Eurovision Song Contest, Çetin Alp participated in the Balkan Song Contest, where he won the best talent award. Çetin Alp is the first Turkish Eurovision singer who passed away. Çetin Alp is the third 1983 participant that passed away. One of the Hoffman-brothers from Germany and Ofra Haza from Israel passed away earlier.EUROVISION 2004 - official esc page eurovision.tv - May 03 2004
o f f i c i a l e u r o v i s i o n p a g e - eurovision.tvEUROVISION 2004 - When will the final results of the Semi-Final and Final be available ... - May 03 2004
eurovision.tv will publish the results in the form of a scoreboard directly after both contests. The scoreboard will show all the points each country receives and will list countries in descending order starting with 1st place.EUROVISION 2004 - All calls will be saved and analysed in Cologne - May 02 2004
This year, for the first time, all calls and SMS votes from all Eurovision countries will be gathered, saved and analysed at a central control centre in Cologne, Germany and – at the same time – transmitted to each national broadcaster, the Eurovision Song Contest’s Executive Supervisor and the Eurovision Broadcasting Union, EBU. The system’s extensive security, back-up and confirmation processes are designed to ensure that the voting will run smoothely. The system also ensures the best possible technical stability to withstand vast amounts of data arriving at the centre at the same time. The system also includes a special calculation mechanism to ensure that callers and SMS voters are charged their respective national rates.EUROVISION 2004 - Fan desk - May 03 2004
The Fan Desk Eurovision fans will have their own ‘Fan Club Desk’ in the area of the press centre, where they can get to know other Eurovision fans and exchange information.EUROVISION 2004 - Press center - May 03 2004
Press Centre Opening Times The Press Centre is located directly next to the venue and is accessible to accredited persons only. The press centre will be open each day on 4-16 May, from 09:00 until two hours after the conclusion of the last daily press conference - calendar. The Press Centre will include a working area (reserved for P1 level accreditations) with 125 desktop computers, fully equipped and with internet access, 175 work stations with electrical power and internet connections, up to 50 WLAN channels and over 10 ISDN lines. Press centre opening hours:4 May 09.00 - 17.00
5-8 May 09.00 - 22.00
9 May 09:00 - 00.00
10 May 09:00 - 23:30
11 May 09:00 - 21:00
12 May 09.00 - 02.00
13 May 09.00 -17.00
14 May 09.00 - 03.00
15 May 09.00 - 03.00
16 May 09.00 - 17.00Lena Ph looses voice - May 03 2004
Obviously the luck is not on the site of Lena Ph. Although she is to defend the Swedish honor at the Eurovision in twenty days, as well as she is busy recording new songs, her voice could not cope with the pressure — it went well and truly down.Not much was left of her voice when she left the studio. She has been put under rather severe strain lately and besides, she has two children to look after, plus she has caught the flu — and she has been a bit under the weather in general. But don't worry, untill the ESC starts Lena will be in the good old shape again.Golden record for Max! - May 03 2004
Germany's Eurovision representative Max was awarded with a golden record for selling more than 150.000 copies of the single Just can't wait until tonight. Max' song topped the German charts for three weeks in a row right after its release and still holds a top ten position. In total 200.000 copies of the song were sold to date. Max has been out of the limelight for a while, focusing on his A-levels. "I feel a bit tired and done now, because I put a lot of pressure on me", the singer said to news agency dpa after his first after exam TV appearance at Stefan Raab's show TV Total this week.
Meanwhile, female singer Nicole, Germany's only Eurovision winner to date, gave a not-too-optimistic comment about Max' chances: "I cannot imagine that today, somebody could score while sleeping for three minutes on his stool". Nicole, who sat on a stool during her winning performance in 1982 herself, nevertheless admitted that Max "has a real good voice".Marta Roure: " Im getting nervous!" - May 03 2004
Marta Roure told eurovision-spain.com about the responsibility that rests on a Eurovision participant's shoulders. Being the first ever representative from Andorra and the first ever to sing in the catalan language gives her an extra reason to do all she can in order not to disappoint all the people who supported her. Marta Roure's main target thus is to represent Andorra as good as possible but of course she also hopes to reach the final with her song Jugarem a estimar-nos. Marta can't deny she is already feeling a bit nervous but as she is preparing her solo album these days, she can forget a bit about the nerves. Marta also added that she hasn't listened to any of her competitors yet as she wants to keep it as a surprise for the big day. Andorra performs in the qualifier round of the Eurovision Song Contest that takes place on 12th May in Istanbul.TRT asks foreign minister about the name of Cyprus - May 03 2004
After a vote against the reunification of Cyprus among the Greek population on the island, the question raised at TRT about how to announce the Cypriot singer. TRT has contacted the Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul for an answer, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported today. The issue started before the referendum on the island. TRT asked the foreign minister how to announce Cyprus at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. If both parts would have voted in favour of the reunification, then it would've been called United Cyprus, but Turkey is used to the name South Cyprus. Gul stated that if TRT would use a country name like South Cyprus or Greek part of Cyprus, it would upset many people. After the referendum, TRT contacted Gul again with the same question, how to announce Cyprus. The foreign minister gave TRT an answer at a TV program about the reunification referendum on the television channel TGRT: "TRT has to do it like last year, just announce Cyprus", the minister said. Gul added that Turkey wouldn't get in trouble when TRT uses the name Cyprus.Platin - A white wedding in Istanbul - April 22 2004
Those who have seen the final evening of the slovenian preselection EMA04, still remember that the "ring scene" where Simon has put an engagement ring on Diana's finger, was not just a part of the stage performance. The story about one of the most famous slovene engagements will obviously
continue in Turkey.
If everything goes on as expected, Simon and Diana will say the famous "I do" a day after their performance in the semi final, on 13th of May. The ceremony will take place on a romantic white boat somewhere near the coast of Istanbul. Simon´s best man will be the duo's manager Marjan Babič, the turkish superstar and last years winner Sertab Erener will stand at Diana's side.
Somehow they have chosen, that white will be the "theme color" of the slovene performance this year. White will be the color of Dianas weeding dress, of the clothes that they will wear when they take off to Istanbul, the color of their hotel room, they will wear white clothes on the rehearsals, press conferences and on the stage, when they perform Stay Forever in the semi final. In case Platin manages to qualify for the final, white will also be the color of their performance on 15th of May.
Simon and Diana - Duo Platin
"It hurts" leaked to early - April 20 2004
Obviously the interest for the english version of the swedish entry "Det gör ont" (It hurts) are so big, that some fans discovered it on some "mp3 search engines", like Soulseek. The song has not officially been released yet, but those who heard it, claim, that it will be even more successful than the swedish version, which still is the number 1 in the swedish charts. Also a new home page of Lena Ph has been published at www.lenaphilipsson.se. Maybe this will satisfy a bit all the inpatient fans, who will wave with the Swedish flag in Turkey.Dana International wants to return to ESC - April 20 2004
The Israel "diva" Dana International, who won the contest in 1998, and was the most mentioned person in the european media at that time, has a big wish to return and maybe win again the Eurovision song contest in the future. It is not important if her homeland Israel or any other european country will invite her to sing for them. At the moment she is preparing her new single, recorded in the french language. Maybe this will help her to forget her unpopular album Free. For a belgian web site, she also said, that she sang the song Diva so many times, that it is slowly going on her nerves, but she is aware that Diva still is one of her best trademarks that guarantee her success and sympathy across Europe.Lithuania ... Politicians support Linas and Simona - April 20 2004
While in some countries the national interest and financial support for the eurovision performance is hard to find, Linas and Simona, who will represent Lithuania in Istanbul, obviously don't have this problem. The politician Gintautas Šivckas said that the Finance Department of his government should consider paying around EUR 24.000 to cover the extra costs to promote Linas and Simona abroad. It is also important to have a good presentation web site and a cd, which will help to promote the home country. Linas and Simona were selected through 6 national finals and a final, which coasted more than 80.000 EUR.A chaque pas successful in Belgium,France and Switzerland - April 15 2004
Jonatan Cerrada, the one who will represent France in Istanbul can also be proud on his triple european success. His song "A chaque pas" entered the French charts at number 12, in Switzerland as 36th and in his home region in Belgium (Wallonia) as 11th.The final voting in alphabetical order - April 13 2004
When the last song will finish in Turkey on 15th of May, the most exciting part of the show will start - the big voting. All 36 participating countries will cast their votes. All in the years before, a spokesperson will present the votes from 1 - 8, 10 and 12. Countries will present their votes in alphabetical word order, according to the , so called ISO-alphabeth. It is still unknown if the voting will take place also in the French language because of a lack of time. This decision will be made after the rehearsals.The voting order:
1 Andorra
2 Albania
3 Austria
4 Bosnia
5 Belgium
6 Belarus
7 Switzerland
8 Serbia
9 Cyprus
10 Germany
11 Denmark
12 Estonia
13 Spain
14 Finland
15 France
16 United Kingdom
17 Greece
18 Croatia
19 Ireland
20 Israel
21 Iceland
22 Lithuania
23 Latvia
24 Monaco
25 FYR Macedonia
26 Malta
27 Netherlands
28 Norway
29 Poland
30 Portugal
31 Romania
32 Russia
33 Sweden
34 Slovenia
35 Turkey
36 UkraineŽeljko Joksimović recorded the video for "Lane moje" - April 11 2004
The serbian mega-star and the first eurovision participant for Serbia an Montenegro has recorded a video for his song "Lane moje" (My sweetheart). The whole video was filmed in Belgrade on the right side of the Danube river, with the director Boris Miljković. Last tuesday, the video has been presented for the first time to the publicity of Serbia and Montenegro. They also made clear that the decision to sing the song in Serbian language will not be changed. You can watch the clip on Željko´s home page: www.zeljkojoksimovic.comA chaque pas succesful in Belgium, France and Switzerland - April 11 2004
Jonatan Cerrada, the one who will represent France in Istanbul can also be proud on his triple european success. His song "A chaque pas" entered the French charts at number 12, in Switzerland as 36th and in his home region in Belgium (Wallonia) as 11th.Triple success for Max - April 10 2004
Max Mützke, the german ESC participant who was selected with a "little" help of Steffan Raab, has plenty to laugh about in the last few weeks. Currently, his song Can't wait until tonight is doing it very well on at least three international charts across europe and could be called a little European hit. Currently he is placed as 5th in Switzerland, 2nd in Austria and of course 1st in Germany, where he became first almost during the night when his song hit the TOP 100 directly from 0 to 1.Bets also on www.bet365.com - March 31 2004
Eurovision bets also started on the web site www.bet365.com, that is more known for sport bets. According to them, the highest possibility to win has Xandee from Belgium with 8:1, followed by Sweden 9:1, Ireland 11:1, Great Britain 13:1 and Serbia & Montenegro with 13:1. At the end of the chart, there are Estonia and Monaco, both 81:1. Let's see how many ESC fans predicted right this time.Albanian entry restyled and translated - March 30 2004
The authors of the first Albanian ESC entry have finally solved the problem with the songs length. "Imazhy yt" was 4 minutes and 20 seconds long, which was way to much to suit the rule that makes all eurovision songs not longer than 3 minutes. They also decided, that Anjeza Shahini will sing the english version of the song called "The Image of you". Here the lyrics of the refrain:You make me feel
a little crazy
you make me see
your tears are true
you make my days
and nights so hazy
if you make me feel
the image of youRussia, Poland and France wont broadcast the semi-final - March 29 2004
Even thought some countries are looking forward to the ESC semi final evening, where their participants will perform for the first and hopefully, not for the last time, national broadcasters from France, Poland and Russia decided, not to broadcast the event on May 12 2004. The french tv, France 3 won't broadcast the semi final, because France does not take part in that show, because the show would only confuse the viewers and because of the fear the event would achieve a low rating. The russian and the polish tv, obviously agreed with the french conclusion.Time for ESC BETS again - March 25 2004
All 36 songs and performers have been selected and are ready for the final "battle". But for Eurovision fans the time for predicting and bets has arrived. With help of www.coral.co.uk you can also bet on your favorite country and its song. So far betting fans think that the Ireland (8/1), Sweden (8/1), Great Britain (10/1), (12/1) Finland or Greece (12/1) are most likely to win the contest on May 15 2004.
For more information, visit the following link. But of course, we will keep you on the run!Video clip for "In the Disco" recorded - March 24 2004
The clip for the bosnian esc entry "In the Disco" has been recorded a few days ago. It was completely shoot in Belgrade. According to Bernarda Tolić, Deens manager, the clip was recorded by the production "Code",which also produced Deens duo with Anabela for the song "Ja imam nekoga". The director of the clip used the same modern effects, that have been used in "Lord of the Rings" movie, the newest computer technology and 3D animation. The costs of the recording reached up to 20.000 Euro.The draw for running order ESC 2004 - March 23 2004
The final act, before the semi final and the big final eurovision event, has been made today and yesterday. Like every year there was the so called "head of national delegation meeting", that represented all the countries and performers that take part in this years contest.
The most important, the draw for running order was made today, on March 23 2004 around 13 o'clock:
> > > HALF FINAL evening of 49th Eurovision Song Contest 2004 - May 12 ...
1. Finland> > > THE GREAT FINAL of the 49th Eurovision Song Contest 2004 - May 15 ...
2. Belarus
3. Switzerland
4. Latvia
5. Israel
6. Andorra
7. Portugal
8. Malta
9. Monaco
10. Greece
11. Ukraine
12. Lithuania
13. Albania
14. Cyprus
15. FYR Macedonia
16. Slovenia
17. Estonia
18. Croatia
19. Denmark
20. Serbia & Montenegro
21. Bosnia-Herzegovina
22. The NetherlandsThe "top 10 countries" from the half-final will qualify for the Great Final of the 49th ESC. No points or finishing position for the "top 10" in the semi-final will be announced until after the Great Final but the positions of the countries finishing 11th to 22nd will be announced immediatly after the semi-final.
1. Spain
2. Austria
3. Norway
4. France
5. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
6. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
7. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
8. Germany
9. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
10. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
11. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
12. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
13. Belgium
14. Russia
15. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
16. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
17. Iceland
18. Ireland
19. Poland
20. United Kingdom
21. Open position to country qualifying from the half-final
22. Turkey
23. Romania
24. SwedenThe open positions will be filled up with the top ten countries from the semi final. After the qualifier round on May 12 2004, the countries that qualified will be drawn by the hosts for the open positions. No points or finishing position for the "top 10" in the semi-final will be announced until after the Great Final.
Meltem Cubul and Korhan Abay will host the ESC final - March 23 2004
As we all know, the plans that Enrique Iglesias will be the one to host the final ESC show were not realized. The TRT reported that they have found a new male host who will make company to Meltem Cumbul the famous turkish actress. His name is Korhan Abay. The 50 years old presenter, singer and actor hosted many international orientated shows in the past. So ... for all Enrique fans the ESC latino dream is definitely over now.
ESC 2004 (from left to right): Meltem Cumbul, Enrique Iglesias, Korhan Abay (right ) and Abdi IpekciNo Iglesias on ESC - March 22 2004
Even though it seemed that there is no doubt about Enrique Iglesias hosting the final eurovison night, the dream for some of his fans is over now. According to the turkish newspaper Miliyet, TRT canceled the co-operation with the latino star. Iglesias insisted that they should pay him $100.000, which was a to high number for the turkish broadcaster. But to not leave Meltem Cumbul alone on stage, TRT has promised that a Turkish star will make her company.Finally ... Sweden has chosen - March 22 2004
Lena Philipsson is the one who will represent one of the most expected ESC participating countries. She won the Melodifestivalen 04 with her song "Det gör ont" (This hurts). Some were pretty sure that the final winner will be the song "Tango!Tango!" performed by Petra Nielsen, who finished on the 4th place.2nd: Min kärlek (My love) - Shirley Clamp (174)
3rd: La dolce vita - After Dark (156)
4th: Tango! Tango! - Petra Nielsen (151)
5th: Paradise - E-Type (75)
6th: Vindarna vänder oss (The winds turn us around) - Fame (66)
7th: Som stormen (Like the storm) - Sara Löfgren (52)
8th: Här stannar jag kvar (Here I'll stay) - Sandra Dahlberg (19)
9th: Olé, olé! - Andrés Esteche (14)
10th: C'est la vie - Hanson, Carson & Malmkwist (7)Marta Roure the first one to represent Andorra - March 17 2004
Andorra, one of the countries who had to chose their Eurovision entry for the first time in history, has made its choice. The winner of the , "pop idol" like show "12Punts!" is Marta Roure.She will sing "Jugarem a estimar-nos" (Playing with loving each other), which is the first song that will be sung in Catalan on the ESC stage. The author of the song is Jofre Badargi, son of Josepe Maria Bordagi, a well known name from the world of Catalan music. For those who are interested in details about the first Andorra national selection, national broadcaster RTVA prepared a special web site www.tvcatalunya.com/12puntsGreece ... Saki Rouvas decided to take part - March 15 2004
Even thought the winner of the preselection show has already been chosen (Apostolos Psichramis), the winner of Euro Star wont sing the greek entry for the ESC04 in Istanbul. Saki Rouvas, one of the biggest greek stars decided to accept the invitation of ERT. All candidates of Euro Star signed a contract, that they agree that ERT has the right to choose their candidate internally whenever they like it. Rouvas was invited to sing for them a long time ago. The author of the official entry stays the same, Nicos Terzis. Not only the singer, but also the song title came to public. Saki will sing "Shake it". Apostolos will get another chance to appear on the eurovision stage. He and some other candidates will be in Sakis backing group. We can only guess how satisfied he is with this consolation prize.Sanda Ladosi for Romania - March 15 2004
Romanians have chosen. This year it is Sanda Ladosi, who will represent them in the final evening of the ESC 04. She received the highest score from the jury and the tv viewers for her song "I admit". The hosts of the show were Nicola and Dan Teodorescu. The special guest of the show, ways the diva from Israel, Dana International. Final results:1. Sanda Ladosi - I Admit - 24 points
2. Andra - Just a Little Love - 17 points
2. Elena Carstea - Don't Be Afraid - 17 points
4. Elena Carstea - Don't Be Afraid - 16 points
5. Parlament - Tot Pe Ea - 9 points
6. Salamandra - Intr-o Zi - 8 points
6. Paula Seling - Perfect - 8 points
6. Hara - Lovely - 8 points
9. Nico - Feeling Snow White - 4 points
9. Alexandra Uregueanu - Happy - 4 points
11. Shake - Music - 1 points
12. Supermarket - De 2 Ore Te Astept - 0 pointsApostolos Psichramis the Greek winner - March 13 2004
Apostolos Psichramis is the winner of Euro Star, the Greek preselection show. He received 18,8 % votes from the jury (counted as 60 % in the final result) and 19,1 % of the televoting results (counted 40 % in the final result).All together, he won with 37,9 % of all votes. Antonis received the second the second place with 34,2 % of all votes. Ioanna, the only female finalist became 3rd with 27,9 % of all votes. The song for Apostolos will be chosen in a special tv show, that will be broadcasted on 17th of March. Televoting will be the only way to select the greek entry. Nicos Terzis, the author of all three final songs, says he would like to see all Euro Star finalists on the stage, next to Apostolos.Chris Doran to represent Ireland - March 9 2004
Almost one million viewers voted for their favorite performer in the final show of Yo´ re a Star. Chris Doran received the most votes, and so became the Irish entry for the ESC in Turkey. HIs song has the title "If the World stops turning", written by the x-Westlife singer Brian McFadden and Jonathan Shorten.Vesna Pisarović again in the Eurovision Song Contest - March 7 2004
The final of BH Eurosong 2004 took place and the song "In the disco" was selected for Istanbul. This song got most of the votes from the audience and also from the expert jury: 14016 votes from the audience (5 points) and 5 points from the jury (the best mark)! The song was written by Vesna Pisarovic, the former Croatian participant in ESC (2002). She was born in Bosnia and after her participation in ESC 2002 for Croatia, she promised to the Bosnian media that she wants to represent Bosnia once.The results of the televoting:
1) Pobjednik : 4689 votes / 2 points
2) Trebam te: 1499 votes / 1 point
3) Sarajevo spava: 5163 votes / 3 points
4) Wanted to make it: 5812 votes / 4 points
5) In the disco: 14 016 votes / 5 pointsThe results of the jury voting:
1) Pobjednik: 3 points
2) Trebam te: 1 point
3) Sarajevo spava: 4 points
4) Wanted to make it: 2 points
5) In the disco: 5 pointsTie-break for Austria - March 6 2004
Stefan di Bernardo, Thomas Elzenbaumer and Tommy Pegram also known as the band Tie-break are the winners of the Austrian national final Song.Null.Vier. They convinced the viewers with their song "Du bist" (You are), written by Peter Zimmermann. The song received 32% of all televotes. Many of you can remember Stefan di Bernardo ans Thomas Elzenbaumer from the TV show "Starmania". The final results, after the televoting:1. Tie-Break - 32%
2. Waterloo & Robinson - 21%
3. Ide - 10%
4. 5 In Love - 10%
5. Rob Davis - 8%
6. Daniel Duric - 8%
7. Zabine - 5%
8. Elnaz - 3%
9. Andre Leherb - 2%
10. Mizan - 1%DORA 2004 ... Listen to all songs - March 6 2004
The home page of the croatian national preselection is introducing all the songs that will take part in the two semi final evenings. On the link: www.hrt.hr/dora2004/prva.html, you can listen to 30s clips of songs from the 1st evening, on the link: www.hrt.hr/dora2004/druga.html the songs of the 2nd evening are presented. To each song, there is also an english version.Ricky Martin to host the ESC2004 - March 2 2004
The turkish broadcaster TRT, who is responsible for this years Eurovision Song Contest, has asked one of the hottest latino stars, to host the final show, next to Meltem Cumbul. It is not a secret that TRT has also asked the turkish singer Tarkan and Enrique Iglesias to be the host of the evening. If the rumors are true, there is no doubt, that Meltem will be in a very good company when the "big night" has arrived.Male singer for Ireland - March 2 2004
The list of potential candidates for this years Irish ESC entry got very short. Only two singers have been left in the game. At the moment, the only thing we know for sure is, that Ireland will be presented by a male singer. The final show of "You're a Star" will take place on 6th and 7th March in the Helix Theater. Candidate Chris Doran will sing the song "It the World stops turning", written by the former West life singer Brian McFadden, the other candidate, James Kilbane will perform "Losing you", written by Sinead McNalli.Great Britain decided - March 1 2004
The show "Making your Mind up" is over now. The participant who will try to do better than Great Britain did last year, is James Fox, the 27 years old singer from South Wales. He will sing ti mid tempo ballad "Hold on to our love". Many remember James from the show Fame Academy, where he achieved the 5th place. Some time ago, he had the chance to perform for British soldiers in Afghanistan, Kosova and the Falklands.Latvian Eurodziesma finished - March 1 2004
This year Formins & Kleins got the chance to do their best on the Eurovision stage for Latvia. Their song "Dziesmi par laimi" will be the first Latvian song that won't be sung in english. Ofcourse it the singers won't decide to translate it. IN the final night of Eurodziesma, ten songs were presented. After the second televoting was over, this were the results:1. (41.297 votes) Fomins & Kleins - Dziesmi par laimi
2. (37.839 votes) Johnny Salamander & Meldra - We share the sun
3. (18.879 votes) Tatjana Timčuka - Like a starESC NEWS
period from November 26 2003 to February 27 2004
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